Page 6 of Shadow Scorching

CHAPTER THREE

Dante was alreadyat work when I arrived—an unusual event. He was talking to Sophia, our receptionist, and when I came in, he jumped up and clapped his arm around my shoulder.

“Say, got a moment? I need to talk to you about something?”

I groaned. “Okay, just don’t spill my coffee!” I was carrying a quad shot peppermint mocha. “Who is she, what’s her problem, and has she threatened to kill you yet?”

Dante was known for his poor choices in love, and more than once we’d rescued him from sticky situations. He was too gorgeous for his own good, and women flocked to him because of his easy, comfortable nature. With a sexy grin and a flamboyant style, he was a chick-magnet.

He did have a darker side in his nature, having to do with his connection—or lack of connection—with his Pack. He’d been excommunicated from his family and Pack years ago, and most of the time he handled it well. But some days I could sense his frustration and loneliness. Wolf shifters were born with the need to Pack-bind, and when they couldn’t, it set them up to become rogues, if they didn’t find some sense of belonging, somewhere.

“Haha, very funny. I’m serious, Kyann. I need to ask your opinion on something.”

“Sure, meet me in my office,” I said. I turned back to Sophia. “Mail? Appointments?”

She handed me a handful of envelopes. “Here you go. As far as appointments, I booked a woman for today at two. She’s thinks she’s being followed by a vampire.”

That wasn’t good. “Hmm, a chance for Lazenti to get some hours in,” I said. We’d hired a vampire last month who was looking for a job, and so far, I hadn’t had many cases he could work on. He’d been very useful for research, but I wanted to get him in action and see how he performed. This might be right up his alley.

“Should I message him?”

“No,” I said. “Wait till after the meeting. If we take the case, we’ll have more information for him.” I was still uncomfortable around Lazenti, but he had done a lot of legwork for us in a few weeks.

“Okay, if that’s it? I’ll be talking to Dante.” I waved at her and headed toward my office.

Dante was there, sprawled out on the loveseat next to my bookshelves. “So, how goes the training with Devon?”

I told him about the night before. “So yeah, it’s working. It’s odd, for sure. But in the coming months I’m going to need it.” I paused, then said, “All right. What’s going on? If it’s not a girlfriend, what’s on your mind?”

“It’s about my aunt Tilly.”

Dante’s great-aunt was a wonderful older lady and the only one from the Pack who still embraced Dante. He always called her auntie, even though she was his father’s aunt.

Tilly was well-respected in the Pack. The equivalent of royalty, actually. Nobody—not even the Elders—dared contradict her. But she was aging, andolderfor a wolf shifterwasold. While Tilly was a wonderful woman, she was starting to slow down, and she was vulnerable, even though the cracks weren’t showing much.

“Is she all right? She’s not sick, is she?” I stiffened. “Does she need help?” Tilly had always been kind to me, and I liked her a lot.

Dante sighed. “I think she’s in trouble, but there’s a problem. She doesn’t think she does need help.”

Not sure what he meant, I asked, “What do you mean? Is it physical?”

“Aunt Tilly told me she’s engaged,” he said. “She’s getting married.”

“Married?I didn’t know she was dating.”

“I didn’t either. I don’t think anybody in the rest of my family knows, either.That’sthe problem. Nobody knows who this guy is, and Tilly refuses to talk about him. I was hoping you could come with me to dinner. Maybe she’ll open up to you. She likes you a lot.” He swung his feet off the loveseat and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Please say yes. I know you care about Tilly as much as I do.”

I smiled. “Of course, I will. When do you want me to come over?”

“Do you have time tonight? She’s invited me to her house for dinner. I asked if I could bring you, and she said of course.”

His puppy-dog eye routine always worked on me. Dante had the ability to tug my heartstrings. Maybe it was because he had been so good to me when I was a teenager. Maybe he was just golden-hearted and I responded to his general kindness. Either way, I couldn’t resist that pleading look.

“All right. What time?”

“Six-thirty? Penn won’t mind, will she?” Dante asked.

“No. In fact, I think tonight’s her class at Windchime Magical Academy. She’s taking a business course there.”

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